“King of The High Wire,” Nik Wallenda, has announced via his website that he will attempt to tightrope walk across the Grand Canyon this June. Wallenda will make the walk without the use of a safety net or harness. The amazing feat will air live on the Discovery Channel, Sunday, June 23. Wallenda will walk a two-inch thick wire positioned 1,500 feet above the Colorado River, higher than he has ever attempted.
On whether or not this daring act frightens Wallenda, he says, “I don’t know that I’m afraid of anything… You can decide if you’re scared of something or not. Your mind is a very powerful tool.” Wallenda grew up walking wires (starting at the young age of two), and he claims “seven generations and 200 years, at this point it’s in my blood.”
He comes from generations of daredevils known as the Flying Wallendas, including his great-grandfather, Karl Wallenda, who fell to his death during a tightrope walk in 1978. Fox News reports that Wallenda has said this Grand Canyon walk will be in Karl’s honor.
In 2012, Wallenda became the first person to walk a tightrope directly over Niagara Falls. ABC televised the event and required Wallenda to wear a safety harness. The network wanted the rights for the Grand Canyon walk too, however, the Discovery Channel offered a better deal, which includes the absence of any sort of safety harness or net.
Wallenda holds six Guinness World Records and appeared on the reality show Nik Wallenda: Beyond Niagara that aired on the Science Channel in 2012.